Illustrated with exacting drawings of sabers, steamboats, revolvers, hats, saddles, buggies, and more, this book is a valuable resource for historians, reenactors, costumers, and producers hoping to replicate the look of the American West from the Civil War to the turn of the 20th century. But more than that, William Foster-Harris's history is a joy to read, benefiting from his dry, winking sense of humor, his encyclopedic knowledge of the Old West, and his extensive collection of memorabilia handed down to him from Civil War veterans, cowboys, frontiersmen, and Native Americans.

"Practically a how-to-do-it of western life. Its drawings illustrate everything from saloon cuspidors to the Deadwood stagecoach."—Time